Whenever you see Chien-Ming Wang vs. Brandon McCarthy as the pitching matchup, you have a feeling as to where the advantage lies. But last night, Wang, who doesn't strike anyone out, couldn't get anyone out, allowing seven runs. Luis Vizcaino stunk again, and I still think he'll gone by June.
By the way, whatever happened to Robinson Cano? Last year, they were all ranting and raving about him, as if he was the next Ryne Sandberg. This year, Cano's numbers are average: .250, 1 HR, and a platry .293 OBP. You wonder if the pitchers have figured the guy out. To be fair, he did bat .398 last June, so maybe he hasn't broken out yet. But so far, he's stunk. And Abreu's been terrible, too (.325 OBP, .309 SLG), and Matsui doesn't scare you that much anymore (.258, 2 HR). So far, lots of holes in the lineup.
That botched rundown by A-Rod reminded me of the '06 A-Rod. Wouldn't mind if he made a comeback.
- Yankees play Seattle this weekend; let's see if Rasner and DeSalvo can do it again. No Jeff Weaver this time, thankfully.
Showing posts with label Rangers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rangers. Show all posts
Friday, May 11, 2007
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Back At .500, And More On Clemens
Another night, another win against Texas. Yankees go for the sweep tomorrow, and their starting pitching is looking great.
I'm not too frustrated with the Yankees success. Again, they'll kill teams with lousy pitching. And Texas is bad.
The good news is, there are two hot teams in the Central. The Indians have put it together following that awful series against the Yankees, and the bats of Peralta, Pronk, and Barfield have been heating up. The Tigers have been red-hot, although I wonder how the Zumaya injury will affect them. Rodney is pretty solid, too, so I wouldn't worry about them.
Why do I bring this up? Because if Boston stays hot and the wild card comes out of the Central - we've got ourselves a Yankee-free October!
- I'm tired of people talking about how the preferential treatment of Clemens goes against the Yankee way. Shut up with the aura and mystique (and I love Schilling's line back in '01 World Series). The Yankee way was gone when they replaced a warrior like O'Neill with one of the biggest jerks to ever play the game, Raul Mondesi. The Yankee way was gone when Steinbrenner wanted to ruin the game and put Montreal and Minnesota out of business. The Yankee way was gone when Kevin Brown punched the wall. So give it up already.
- And by the way, you will not see me complain about the Clemens signing ruining the parity of the game. Not when the mid-market Brewers have the best record in the game. Not after the Red Sox shelled out $100 million for Matsuzaka. Not when only 5 teams came into spring training with no shot at the playoffs. Baseball's system still needs some work, but we've come a long way since the late 90's.
I will say this: one Yankee fan told me he'd love for the Yankees to sign Johan Santana when he becomes a free agent. If that happens, I think I'll be watching the NHL playoffs this time of year.
I'm not too frustrated with the Yankees success. Again, they'll kill teams with lousy pitching. And Texas is bad.
The good news is, there are two hot teams in the Central. The Indians have put it together following that awful series against the Yankees, and the bats of Peralta, Pronk, and Barfield have been heating up. The Tigers have been red-hot, although I wonder how the Zumaya injury will affect them. Rodney is pretty solid, too, so I wouldn't worry about them.
Why do I bring this up? Because if Boston stays hot and the wild card comes out of the Central - we've got ourselves a Yankee-free October!
- I'm tired of people talking about how the preferential treatment of Clemens goes against the Yankee way. Shut up with the aura and mystique (and I love Schilling's line back in '01 World Series). The Yankee way was gone when they replaced a warrior like O'Neill with one of the biggest jerks to ever play the game, Raul Mondesi. The Yankee way was gone when Steinbrenner wanted to ruin the game and put Montreal and Minnesota out of business. The Yankee way was gone when Kevin Brown punched the wall. So give it up already.
- And by the way, you will not see me complain about the Clemens signing ruining the parity of the game. Not when the mid-market Brewers have the best record in the game. Not after the Red Sox shelled out $100 million for Matsuzaka. Not when only 5 teams came into spring training with no shot at the playoffs. Baseball's system still needs some work, but we've come a long way since the late 90's.
I will say this: one Yankee fan told me he'd love for the Yankees to sign Johan Santana when he becomes a free agent. If that happens, I think I'll be watching the NHL playoffs this time of year.
Friday, May 04, 2007
Yankees Sweep Texas
All the talk of Joe Snorre's job security has faded, as the Yanks swept Texas. I know a win's a win, but you can't get too excited here.
First off, Texas, as a team, is all about their hitting. Their pitching has been terrible for years; even when they made the playoffs, they had no shot with also-rans like Aaron Sele, Rick Helling, and Darren Oliver. And in '07, Kameron Loe and Vincente Padilla are nothing to write home about. So if they can't score 7 runs, they're done. And with the exception of rookie Ian Kinsler, the hitting has stunk. Young, Blalock, and Teixera have struggled, and Brad Wilkerson and Kenny Lofton don't scare anyone.
So their getting hammered by the Yankees doesn't mean anything. To Texas's credit, they still got Mussina and Pettitte to throw a lot of pitches and leave early. And at this rate, Luis Vizcaino will last about as long as Carlos Almanzar.
- The saga with conditioning coach Marty Miller reminds me of the last Yankees strength and conditioning fiasco - the "Bronx Burners" of 1982. Which, of course, was the first year of a 13-year playoff drought in the Bronx.
- Next up, Yanks and Seattle. Seattle has played decent ball thus far, but if Felix Hernandez doesn't stay healthy, they're done. Especially with Weaver and Batista in the rotation. Bill Bavasi can duke it out with Kevin Malone for "worst GM in the west."
- Kei Igawa goes tonight. Let's see if last week's performance was just a fluke.
First off, Texas, as a team, is all about their hitting. Their pitching has been terrible for years; even when they made the playoffs, they had no shot with also-rans like Aaron Sele, Rick Helling, and Darren Oliver. And in '07, Kameron Loe and Vincente Padilla are nothing to write home about. So if they can't score 7 runs, they're done. And with the exception of rookie Ian Kinsler, the hitting has stunk. Young, Blalock, and Teixera have struggled, and Brad Wilkerson and Kenny Lofton don't scare anyone.
So their getting hammered by the Yankees doesn't mean anything. To Texas's credit, they still got Mussina and Pettitte to throw a lot of pitches and leave early. And at this rate, Luis Vizcaino will last about as long as Carlos Almanzar.
- The saga with conditioning coach Marty Miller reminds me of the last Yankees strength and conditioning fiasco - the "Bronx Burners" of 1982. Which, of course, was the first year of a 13-year playoff drought in the Bronx.
- Next up, Yanks and Seattle. Seattle has played decent ball thus far, but if Felix Hernandez doesn't stay healthy, they're done. Especially with Weaver and Batista in the rotation. Bill Bavasi can duke it out with Kevin Malone for "worst GM in the west."
- Kei Igawa goes tonight. Let's see if last week's performance was just a fluke.
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